She discovered evidence that the Plaza Grill and Cinema might be the oldest continuous-operating theater in the world, and in true Peach fashion, came up with a grand idea: to create an interactive historical experience for all to enjoy the magic of cinema.

The Kickstarter campaign to raise money to fund the project didn't meet its goal, but that's certainly not stopping the project.

It's December! This month is one of our favorites (let's be honest, we love almost every month for some reason or another) because of all the holiday festivities. And of course, we find ways to incorporate costumes!

This Saturday, Dec. 14, is the fourth annual SantaCon, and we're excited to participate again. SantaCon is a "conference of Santas," or better known as a pub crawl of Santas.

Anyone (of legal age, of course) is welcome to participate in this event! All that's required is a Santa suit or other holiday attire. A Santa hat is not enough, you need to put a little more effort into it!

The Santas are invited to gather at the Sandbar starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday (or earlier, if you like-- we open at 1) for a little holiday cheer. The pub crawl will then head down Mass Street to the Granada around 4, followed by a stop at Red Lyon and ending at the Bottleneck in time for the KU basketball game at 6 p.m.

SantaCon is a ton of fun, but it's also a charitable event. Santas are asked to bring donations for Ballard Community Services and Lawrence Humane Society. Cash, of course, is preferred but there's also a list of most-wanted items for each agency on the SantaCon website.

And if you have kids, bring them downtown to see the Santas! We promise, it's not a drunken mess like you might imagine a pub crawl to be. It's a jolly good time with Christmas carols and bells and lots of holiday cheer. We just happen to enjoy a few drinks along the way!

I have been seriously bad about keeping this blog up. Once upon a time, there were four or five new posts each week. When I logged in to write this, I realized there were three posts for the entire month of September. Believe me, there's more going on at the Sandbar than that; I'm just not there to see it these days.

But, here's something awesome for you.

If you've followed the Sandbar for any length of time-- or if you really know the owners like you insist to the doorguy-- then you know Peach, our founder, also owns the Plaza Grill & Cinema, a movie theater slash bar and grill down the road in Ottawa.

But did you know this: she recently uncovered evidence of the theater showing movies all the way back in 1905, making it a candidate for the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest operating theater in America.

And now, there's a plan to convert the theater into an interactive historical experience so that people can enjoy the magic of the cinema in the middle of America.

How can you help? Well, there's a Kickstarter project taking place right now. If you're not familiar with Kickstarter, it's a crowdsourced funding platform that brings project creators together with backers to make things happen.

You can donate as little as a buck or as much as you want to this project-- but unless the project is fully funded, you won't spend a dime.

The goal of this project is to raise $45,000. The project has three stages that are described here, and it will add jobs as well as economic growth to the community of Ottawa.

What are you waiting for?! Go check it out here, and make a donation if you can.

Former bartender Danny has probably had more press on this blog than any other bartender, besides maybe Dave, but he happens to not only lead a busy and interesting life, he's also very willing to share stories with me. I guess you could say he's good at promoting himself.

This is kind of "old news," meaning he told us about it over a month ago, but it's still completely relevant.

His latest endeavor is really cool. Here it is, in his own words.

I have a friend named Amy who I basically met secondhand via
Facebook. Back in 2010 when I raced Ironman Coeur d'Alene, she was
training for Ironman Louisville and had a friend recommend my race blog.
We ended up becoming acquainted through chatting about training and
racing and occasionally about "real life" stuff. In January, she was
diagnosed with breast cancer and in February, she began chemotherapy.
She started a Caring Bridge blog to document her day to day experiences
as she battled cancer, which I read. As a pediatric oncology nurse, I
was not only curious about her experiences, but was able to better help
her understand some of the terminology the doctors were throwing around
and explain some of the aspects of her treatment.

Throughout her
treatment, she has been an inspiration. Not only has she faced the
diagnosis with grace and courage, she has inspired me by continuing her
active lifestyle through this very difficult chapter in her life. And
obviously, I've not been the only person to take notice. A friend of
hers submitted her name to the PR company that runs the annual Lee Jeans
Denim Day campaign. This is an event which takes place in October, and
basically turns casual Friday into a fundraising opportunity for breast
cancer.

The group ended up choosing her to be the face of their
national campaign this year. In preparation for the photo shoot for
their website and all of their promotional materials, they asked her to
choose a handful of friends who have inspired her, supported her, and
given her courage through this process. She chose a few coworkers, one
of whom is battling cancer herself, a new friend who she met during her
treatments, and to my surprise, she also included me on her short
list... stating that I had been inspiring her with my athletic exploits
ever since we "met" and that I had lately been a source of encouragement
to her through my racing, my fundraising efforts for pediatric cancer,
and shaving my head at the same cancer benefit.

In
April, we all met at a studio in Kansas City, went through makeup and
wardrobe, conducted video interviews, and a lengthy photo shoot in the
studio, as well as several locations around KC. The website is www.denimday.com and the actual day of the event is October 4th, 2013.

St. Patrick's Day is our favorite holiday of the year, and we spend a lot of time, money and effort making it fun not only for us, but for the community. We're proud sponsors of the Lawrence St. Patrick's Day Parade, and our staff and friends participate in many of the fundraising events and on the committee.

It all culminates on March 17 each year with the annual parade.

This year, we built a float around a theme we've considered for many years: Gilligan's Island. We've talked about this one for a long time now, but we've never been able to put together a building plan. It all came together this year.

Our building crew created half a boat called the S.S. Minnow, a giant boulder that it "crashed" into and a beach. We had the full cast of characters and a boat load of Gilligans. We even had the golf cart, native islanders and the golf cart!

Here's a couple pictures:

There's more pictures on our Facebook page, you can check them out here. (You have to be logged into Facebook to see our page.) And we'll have more to add in a few days.

Also, here's a short video made with Vine from Twitter user @uh_burton:

He tended bar at the Sandbar for many, many years, and he still does occasionally when we need help.

Danny graduated from nursing school, moved to Kansas City and now works at Children's Mercy Hospital in the oncology unit. That means he works with children who have cancer. Can you imagine how incredibly sad, yet rewarding his job must be?

Danny is also a rockstar fundraiser. For the last I don't even know how many years, Danny has participated in Bike MS, a major fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He raised thousands of dollars for the organization.

This year, Danny has turned his efforts to a cause very close to his own patients- the CureSearch Walk.

Here's what Danny says:

I started working on the Hem/Onc unit at Children's Mercy in November, and I am excited to be getting involved with a charity that directly supports the kiddos I get to work with on a daily basis.

Often I feel like donating to "research" feels like a very vague gesture towards a cause. With this charity, I get to see firsthand where the money is going. It is going to directly fund enrolling my patients in these research studies to find new and better treatments for childhood cancer. I sincerely hope you'll consider making a donation to help these amazing and brave kids overcome their diseases!

Danny's fundraising goal is $1,500, and so far he's raised $1,375. He'll likely meet this goal, but there's no reason he has to stop there!

Eleven years already- wow. The Sandbar has had a team in this event for at least most of those years. Our former bartender, Scottie Mack, puts the event together. We actually won last year, believe it or not.

This year we had nine smart people on our team who could cover topics ranging from military history to celebrity baby names (that's my area of expertise and I'm not ashamed to admit it).

We're sad to say, however, that we missed this question:

"John Hampton claims to be the first male to portray this downtown Lawrence character."

Got an answer? We didn't. It wasn't our question, but the team who got that one couldn't answer it, so everyone had a chance.

We didn't win the trivia game, but we finished in the top half so we're proud of that.

Have you heard of the Color Run? It's a crazy-sounding 5k "run" where all the participants wear white and are blasted with color at various stops during the route, so at the end of the run everyone looks like a giant rainbow. It's more about fun than speed, so even non-runners can enjoy the experience.

The Color Run took place in Kansas City last spring, and it seems like all of our Facebook and Twitter friends were there.

Well, now it's coming to Lawrence! Mark your calendar for Saturday, Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. and get ready for the "happiest 5k on the planet," as they say. The run takes place in downtown and east Lawrence.

And, we've got a team you can join. If you sign up before Sept. 15, it's $40, and if you join our team you'll save five bucks! After that date the price goes up.

Under the "Team Information" section, choose "join a team," and in the search box search for "Sandbar Shark Attack."

Finish the rest of your registration

The Color Run is also supporting the Assists Foundation, and you can choose to make a personal donation if you wish.

That's it! What are you waiting for?

We'll have more details soon, but we're tentatively planning on having pre- and post-race gatherings at the bar, and we're also planning to print special white Sandbar T-shirts just for the Color Run! We'll let you know when they're available for purchase.

Last weekend the Sandbar crew staffed the bar at yet another Hearts of Gold Ball, the biennial black-tie event created in 1999 that benefits the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Endowment Association. Peach sits on the board of the organization and we're proud to help give back to the community.

This year's theme was "Home is Where the Heart is" and all funds raised will help update the second floor medical unit, one of the last wings in the hospital to be updated.

The event was in the gymnasium at Corpus Christi Catholic Church- something that we at the Sandbar thought was funny, since bartender Ken is the physical education teacher and gym guru at the school. We joked about how he was sure to notice any marks left on the floor by all the high heels at the ball.

Hayley, Coleen and Ethan all tended the bar, along with Hayley's friend Ally. It was quite a different atmosphere from the Sandbar- no Sandbar T-shirts here! They all looked very professional in black and white.

According to 6 News Lawrence, the ball raised $350,000. There were live and silent auctions with all kinds of cool stuff to buy, and another way for people to donate if they didn't want to buy something- they could "raise the paddle." Basically this meant they could raise their bid card and give a certain amount of money. Apparently, people do that!

We had a great time sharing a table with the folks from Zarco 66. Can't wait for the next one!

The annual Walk MS, a fundraiser for the National MS Society, is coming up on April 28. The Sandbar has a team walking again this year.

Our friend Courtney, a regular patron from the 90s, was diagnosed with MS several years ago. We also have a number of other friends who have MS, and bartender Danny has been a huge fundraising machine for years now through Bike MS.

Courtney's Sandbar walk team has a donation page here. We'd love it if you made a donation, large or small, to our team. Our team's fundraising goal is $3000.

Or, walk with us! The more the merrier! You can join our team from the same link posted above.

If you'd like to donate to bartender Danny's effort, you can do that here. Even if you don't want to make a donation, you should check out his page; it features a picture of his team, the Fun Police, outside the bar on their bikes.